Sunday, December 29, 2013

What the Hell Is It with the Preds and Flames?

The Kings have lost 4 games this year to the Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators, two of the worst teams in the NHL - with 34 and 38 points respectively they are numbers 13 and 14 in the Western Conference. The Kings have lost only 6 games in regulation to the rest of the NHL to this point!

And here is the crazy thing: in all four of those games, the Kings have trailed, come back to tie, and then lost the game in the final five minutes (the final minute in 3 of the 4). How can the Kings keep doing this against two awful teams they are supposed to beat?

Oct. 21 at home against Calgary, the Kings gave up a power play goal by Brodie with exactly 30 seconds left to lose the game 3-2 after Jeff Carter had tied it up with a shortie in the 2nd period.

Nov. 2 at home against Nashville, the Kings gave up a goal to Legwand with 3:56 to play, losing the game 4-3 after they had rallied with goals by Brown and Richards to tie a game they had trailed all along only a couple minutes earlier.

Nov. 30 at home against Calgary, the Cammalleri scored with 23 seconds to go, breaking a 1-all tie and giving the Flames a 2-1 win after Justin Williams had scored to tie it up only 4 minutes earlier.

And then last night in Nashville, Carter tied it up with the goalie pulled before Fisher scored ten seconds later with a mere 27 seconds left on the clock to win it 3-2.

If it's any consolation, after the second loss to Calgary, the Kings did win 9 of 10 before this current two-game skid. But seriously, they better get their act together and start playing the full game against not just the elite teams, but the bottom feeders too. The Pacific Division is too tough to let any points slip away.